The Last Battle
by ShadowStrider
Summary: Based on the new DC 52 universe, this story follows the Titans nearly a year after Raven has erased the memories of her team and the League, all to protect the mind of Damian Wayne, but for what purpose? What secret could be buried in Damian's memory, and what price did she pay for the power to hide it? Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret
1. Chapter 1

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter I**

~ Somewhere in Tibet ~

"Concentrate." The voice that spoke this was monotonous and slightly morose. The young woman to whom this voice belonged maintained her current position, meditating a few feet above the plateau she had picked in the middle of nowhere. She found it to be much more peaceful when there were a few hundred miles between her and the nearest populated city. So much easier to try and forget, forget about her old team, her friends; and him.

She could feel the sun as it climbed ever higher in the sky, baking the earth beneath her and making her mediation session more and more difficult to maintain. "Just a little longer Raven… come on… just… a little… longer…" When she could no longer take it, she stretched out, lowering herself till her feet touched the warm, crusted plateau ridge. "Just another day in paradise… Yeah right…"

Reaching for that dark power again, Raven took to the skies, moving south towards her homestead. Her little hideaway was nestled in a cavern on the sheer face of a larger plateau. Facing due west, the mouth of her cave afforded her an unobstructed view of the sunset each day. She supposed that watching the sun disappear over the horizon would look nice, with the right person beside her. But after what happened, what to most must seem a beautiful sight only filled her with longing.

As she alighted at the threshold of her current home, she glanced at the communicator, a relic of her life before this. Silence greeted her entrance, as it had for many months now. Gods, she tried to recall when exactly she had begun her self-imposed exile, but the days had been blurred together for far too long. Not that it mattered, really…

Making her way inside, her thoughts returned to the people she had left behind, her team, her friends, and him. 'Stop it, Raven,' she thought to herself, 'no use thinking about what might have been. You used to tell Garfield that all the time, right?' She made her way to her bed, unhooking her cloak and hanging it on a broken root jutting from the wall.

Reaching out with her power, she moved a stone set in the wall that held back a constantly refilling reservoir of water. She pulled the straps of her uniform off her shoulders, lowering it over her smooth skin. Her supple breasts and toned body betrayed her to the cold of the cavern, goosebumps rising momentarily before she became used to the temperature again. Raven had always had a firm grasp of her identity, she was who she was, and so therefore, she never gave much thought to the way her body looked.

As she made her way through the cave towards the natural pool she had discovered, her footsteps echoed down the cavern tunnels. Finally reaching her destination, she tested the water, reaching into the center of the stream. Finding the temperature to be just right, she stepped into the stream, letting the warm water rush over her skin. Standing there, in that embrace of warmth, she felt her mind drift, thinking about the embrace she missed, longed for, even desired…

From the dark corners of her mind – of which there are many – she could remember the feeling of his hands, strong yet gentle, taking in every inch of her skin, as if she belonged to him

'Raven'

Those commanding lips, which with but a word, could bring her to her knees, making her a veritable slave to his will. How she wished those lips could kiss her, taste her skin

'Raven, that's enough'

And those eyes, that even amongst their team, only she had been trusted with, an ocean's green, calm, yet hidden beneath was a raging maelstrom, threatening to drown her forever

 **'Enough Raven!'**

Opening her eyes, she brought herself back to reality, reminding herself that those memories weren't real, he was not here. She was suddenly filled with such longing, verging on sorrow, as the painful reminder of what she had done to save his mind, had cost her, how she had sacrificed everything for him. Tears began to fall, her daily ritual now complete, as she whispered into the emptiness the name of the only one she would ever love, "Damian…"


	2. Chapter 2

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter II**

~ Titans Tower ~

'Damian…' That voice echoed in the darkness, so familiar, yet so foreign. It sounded shy, yet hinted at great power, akin to the mewling of a house cat that was once a great lioness. He struggled to placed it; twisting, turning, folding his mind as he slept, he tried to reclaim the memory associated with that voice, yet could not shake the feeling that someone had stolen it from him. Clearly a vital part of who he was, like the training under his father and grandfather, or the sword by his bed, he knew he would never feel complete until he found it again.

"Dammit," he shouted, his eyes opening, mind racing, weariness fading, "Why?" He asked this very same question every morning, and had for 11 months and 7 days, heard that voice in the darkness, calling his name. Nearly a year had passed, and still no closer to an answer to that one question.

"Hey ese, you ok?"

Jaime was the resident nurse, learning the medical craft from the blue scarab attached to his spine. The 'personality' of his attachment, being from the Outer Reach, was programmed to diagnose the overall health of its bearer. Ever since freeing the scarab and Jaime from the clutches of the Reach, Jaime had decided to learn as much as he could from it, and had excelled quickly.

"I'm fine Jaime," though even as Damian said this, Jaime had let himself in, waking up the scarab and forming the scanners around his arms. "Really Jaime, it's just the usual."

"Let Dr. Beetle decide what that was hermano," he said with a cheeky grin, as the scarab chittered, "I know, we bad." As his training progressed, he became skilled enough to quickly diagnose injuries and even certain toxins in the field, earning one of Garfield's infamous nicknames, Dr. Beetle. Damian still wasn't sure if Garfield, who was named for a fat orange tabby cat was trying to insult Jaime or not, but Jaime chose to wear that nickname with pride, and maybe one day even succeed it.

Still, even with as long as he, Jaime, and Garfield had been teaming up, neither he nor Garfield, nor for that matter anyone else who witnessed it, get used to Jaime respond to the chittering of the scarab. At times, it could even be described as unnerving, watching someone argue with a machine against killing their enemies.

As the beetle scanned Damian for any sign of 'tampering', Jaime sat studiously, occasionally checking with the scarab, asking it to clarify some possibilities, or test some theories about Damian's condition. "Duudes, can you knock off that whining? I can't sleep when you guys do this, you know."

Another addition to the discussion, Garfield strode right in, the animal senses in him finally at ease with Damian's dark, brooding demeanor. For the longest time, Garfield avoided meeting Damian's gaze, even when out on missions, preferring to look around and away from him. He wasn't sure why, until one day when Garfield must have simply got tired of dodging the issue, and had cornered him in the corridor. Fairly impressive a feat though that was, he would not be swayed from his mission, "Duuude! Why do you look so mad all the time?! Did I do something to piss you off?!"

"I'm not quite sure what you could be referring to, since if I was angry with you, we would have fought already." For a long moment, silence stretched between them before Damian asked, "What?"

Garfield then grabbed his shoulders with a look of utter bewilderment plastered across his face. "Seriously? Have you never looked in a mirror dude?"

Months had passed before Damian finally managed to soften his expression enough to avoid such an issue again, inadvertently changing his status among the team from 'angry-looking' to 'plain-looking'… He still wasn't sure what those were meant to imply about him.

"Like anyone could sleep with you roaring like a chainsaw in there," Damian felt that he was beginning to grasp the concept of joking with Garfield, but sometimes he couldn't elicit even a chuckle. Jaime laughed though, so he could definitely count this one as being good.

"Man mi amigo, he got your number."

"I keep telling you guys, I don't snore."

"Now who's whining Garfield," this elicited an even louder laugh from Jaime, causing Damian to smirk.

"Man B, you're getting blasted by mi hermano, the living statue?"

"Whatever dude, what was that noise for?" For a couple months now, Jaime and Damian had kept his restlessness a secret from the team. Jaime shot him a questioning look, probably wondering what he should say.

"I'll explain it all in the briefing later, is that satisfactory?"

"I guess dude, just keep it down, k?" He didn't wait for a reply as he left the room, to try and sleep some more before the sun rose.

Jaime just watched him leave, as Damian got up and dressed quickly, grabbing his weapons and moving past him. "Hey hermano, what're you up to now?"

"I need to go blow off some steam."

"I'm worried amigo, with the way you go from being normal to being too serious, maybe you are loco ese?" Jaime got no response as Damian turned, and made his way to the training field outside.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter III**

~ Titans Tower Briefing ~

As he made his way to the briefing room, Damian ran into Jaime, "Yo ese, you sure you wanna do this? We still don't know how that fight changed you." It was the same argument he'd made before, when the uncertainty of Damian's condition had nearly driven him mad. Damian knew how this argument would end, but he just knew that if he did not say something today, he would lose his mind.

"I'm not sure of anything right now, but I do know one thing Jaime. If not for your help, I might have lost my sense of things a while ago."

"Whoa, whoa, did you just thank me, ese? Now I know you're sick in the head."

Upon entering the briefing room, Damian and Jaime moved to take their places around the table. As they waited for Cyborg to return with mission specs, Damian mentally recounted the members of his team.

At the head of the table were the founding members, Starfire and Nightwing. Starfire, once a princess on her home planet of Tamaran, now exiled from her home world after a coup. After seeking sanctuary on Earth, she fought alongside Nightwing and Batman, earning herself a place among the Justice League. Nightwing was known to most as the first Robin, Batman's protégé, but he knew also the man behind the mask, Dick Grayson, last of the once famous Flying Graysons. Damian found that while Nightwing's lackadaisical attitude sometimes ground a nerve or two, as a brother-in-arms he shared the experience of studying with Batman.

To his left, sat Blue Beetle and Beast Boy, the first two to train under the title of Teen Titans. Blue Beetle, or Jaime as some knew him, was the team's medic, having his Outer Reach appendage provide for him whatever tools and knowledge were necessary for the completion of his tasks. He was also the only person with any connection to the Reach, and kept the team informed as well as possible, even helping to enhance current security protocols for the Tower with Cyborg. Beast Boy, known to most as Garfield, was the team's primary infiltrator. Despite his carefree, sometimes oblivious nature, he was the team's chemist, using the same skills that led to his current condition to aid the team in any way necessary.

On his right, were the newest members of the team, Wonder Girl and Jinx. As a team, their unique skills and combined abilities had made them quite the adaptable team. Damian had even been… saved… by Jinx… twice… despite his assumption that she would betray him at the first opportunity.

As he was starting to recall details of the new members of the team, a boom tube opened behind Nightwing. Cyborg passed through, carrying one very slim folder, making the chances of being deployed very minimal.

"We caught a break, team," Cyborg laid the folder down next to Nightwing, who opened it swiftly, finding only a photo of a large stone ring, as well as a platform at its base, obviously ancient but only recently rediscovered.

Nightwing studied the photo momentarily before closing the folder again, "Judging by the age and location of this piece, it appears to be Quraci in origin, right Cyborg?" Damian had to hand it to him, he didn't become the first Robin without having picked up a few good tricks.

"You got it, but the League took control of this case, so we've got the day. Let's just hope nothing happens in town."

Nightwing and Starfire both stood, getting ready to dismiss the team for the day, "Well team, as per usual, keep coms open, just in case. Does anyone have something they want to table for the next briefing?"

Damian and Jaime both stood, giving each other a quizzical look before Jaime began, "Si Nightwing, we may have a problem…"


	4. Chapter 4

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter IV**

~ Raven's Cavern ~

Staring at the stars, Raven couldn't help but notice that even now, after so long having struggled with the madness clawing at her mind each day, she still could not sleep. Thoughts of Damian filled her waking hours, but in dreams, the power of those visions was dangerous. The last time her powers had raged, the surge of energy nearly destroyed her home.

"Hopefully they won't be so bad tonight," even as she wished for that to be true, in her heart, Raven knew that the dreams would one day bring an end to her pain. Until that day came, she would continue to dream, and she would not stop trying to control her ever-growing power.

The idea of rest finally won out, and, traveling the short distance to her bed, laid down, closed her eyes, and cast away another day. And she dreamt of the boy who was, and would always be, the demon in her dreams.

~ Titans Tower ~

"What do you mean, problem?" Nightwing reacted as Damian knew he would, narrowing his eyes, and adopting Batman's mannerisms, clearly trying to get to the root of the 'problem' swiftly.

"Let me explain, Nightwing," Damian responded, "Blue Beetle has been keeping a secret from everyone here… on my behalf." Damian saw that Nightwing moved to stand up, clearly against the idea that there were any secrets within the team.

Starfire reached over, settling her hand on his arm, "Nightwing, sit down. Damian, what secrets could you need to keep from us? We're your friends, right?" To Damian, that moment had all the appearance of a mother trying to keep her husband from shouting at their son over something trivial.

Looking down at the table, Damian responded, "No, but I trust everyone here with more than that. I hold the camaraderie of battle, and the trust that builds, far higher than friendship." His gaze traveled around the table, even passing over Jinx, who seemed slightly confused about her inclusion in his statement. "If you feel that we are friends, that's fine, and I might someday return that sentiment, but trust is what I need right now."

Wonder Girl interjected, "So tell us what this big secret is," the concern in her voice genuine.

Damian directed his attention to Nightwing, "Do you remember that mission we were on 11 months and 8 days ago?"

Nightwing looked at him quizzically, "You're referring to the battle with Trigon?"

Jinx smiled her Cheshire cat grin, "I remember, I kept you from being stepped on, like a tiny ant."

"Yes… that one…" he glared at her before continuing, "During that fight, I cut Trigon, and some of his blood got on me. It made me see things, feel things, things that weren't there…"

Cyborg began running a search through his database, "What, like a hallucinogenic?"

"Not quite that mild, Cyborg." Damian knew that Cyborg wouldn't find anything in his database, he'd already checked, "This was much more potent, but the strange thing is, everything I was feeling and seeing belonged to someone else. Like I **was** someone else, in another place."

Nightwing looked to Starfire and Cyborg for counsel, but Starfire only shrugged her shoulders, clearly confused. Cyborg continued to consult his database, "Well, according to the Apokoliptians, there's very little on Trigon, even less on his powers, probably due to him being an inter-dimensional being. What intel do you have on him Beetle?"

Beetle pulled up his data, "It's more or less the same hermano, the only interesting piece refers to some sort of conduit, that allows him to travel between dimensions. We didn't find anything at his origin site though, right?"

"No, we didn't," Nightwing answered, almost too quickly. Damian decided he would do a little digging later.

Cyborg started running a search, "That's something we need to look into then, see if anyone reported any mystical occurrences in the last few years."

Beast Boy raised his hand like a grade schooler, "Uhh, maybe this is a stupid question, but why search for anything that far back?"

"To see if anyone noticed anything leading up to the event ese," as usual, Jaime knew what Damian was thinking, hitting the mark on the same target. "If anyone was preparing to summon Trigon, someone should have noticed, comprende?"

"Oh, I get it," Beast Boy's eyes lit up, sporting his cheesy little grin.

Cyborg set the search running, "That's right, hopefully someone, somewhere, reported any mystical incidents to the authorities. If they did-"

"We might be able to track any movement before and after our encounter with Trigon, right?" This interjection from Wonder Girl surprised everyone at the table, as her tactical training was severely lacking. "Is that not right?" she asked sheepishly, looking around the table.

Nightwing recovered quickly, "No, that's exactly right. We'll do the digging, looking for anything in particular that might give us some clue as to how Trigon got into our dimension." Damian couldn't shake the feeling that Nightwing knew something, and glancing over at Beetle and Beast Boy, saw they felt the same way. He'd need to discuss this with them later. "For now, we have the day team," Nightwing rose, clearly looking to bring this meeting to a close, "be ready for anything. Meeting adjourned."


	5. Chapter 5

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter V**

~ Raven's Cavern ~

Tossing and turning in her bed, Raven dreamt in fits and spurts, stories meshing with memories, truths colliding with fictions in a cacophonous whirl. Mostly she dreamt of her personal demon, a boy she loved, and feared; fearing one day he may discover her betrayal, and hoping he may one day come to realize how powerful he truly is.

In most every dream, she shared her body and soul with him, though they only shared minds, in truth. Yet she could not deny how profoundly he had affected her, and the thought terrified her.

Twisting and turning, her mind was a din of confusion, and no matter how she tried, she could not escape one simple fact… They would destroy each other. Thus she slept, like every night before, restlessly, fighting between her desire to see him, and her fear of him knowing the truth.

Silently watching, the moon rose higher, casting her cavern into darkness as it passed over the plateau.

~ Titans Tower ~

"Come on Gar, you gotta admit that Nightwing seemed a little off earlier." Jaime leaned against the wall, a short distance off from Garfield and Damian, as the two of them finished their simulated training session.

Beast Boy, who had been knocking around the simulated enemies as a gorilla, turned to face Jaime, "No way Jaime, why would Nightwing need to hide anything from us? Tell him Damian, that just can't be right, right?"

Damian flipped over two simulations, slicing their arterial veins with precise movements, just as he was taught. Landing gracefully, he turned to Beast Boy, "Look, I don't know what he knows, but Nightwing knows something, and I intend to find out what it is." He looked to Jaime, before stabbing the last sim in the heart, "Are you going to help us, or not?"

Beast Boy looked pained, thinking about what they would be doing soon. "Are we sure there's no other way?"

"The only other way, is to wait for them to give us only what **they** think we need to know." Jaime walked over to stand next to Damian and Garfield, arms crossed. "We can't afford to wait ese. It's loco to think that they'll tell us everything, especially after telling them we were keeping secrets."

Damian grabbed hold of Beast Boy's shoulder, "I only need to find one name, after that, we'll be able to do our own digging."

Beast Boy seemed to relax a little, "Well, if that's all-"

"Trust me, it'll only take a mom-"

"Are you crazy?! You're talking about breaking into Nightwing's secure files, remember how well that went last time?" Beast Boy made a valid point, but it would not sway Damian from his goal.

"I remember, but this is important. Whatever Nightwing knows, it's got to be connected to Trigon's sudden appearance. Why would he hide it?"

"Exactly ese, and even if it's not directly connected, it obviously mattered to him enough to keep it secret even from Starfire." Jaime added, pointing out another obvious fact. If Nightwing was keeping it secret even from Starfire, and possibly Cyborg, who was he reporting to?

Damian sheathed his sword, before turning to leave the simulation field. "Whether you're with us or not, Jaime and I are going to get some answers. We'd prefer not to keep this from you, since we will need to continue fighting together."

"What mi hermano is trying to say, is we're a team. The three of us have been on more missions together, we've fought together, and when needed, we find out each other's dirty little secrets." Jaime moved to stand next to Damian, clearly denoting he was ready to take the risk. "No secrets, we swore that, and Nightwing has broken his word. We gotta know why."

Beast Boy looked torn, knowing that he should stand by them, "Are you sure there's no other way? Can't we just ask him?"

Damian lowered his gaze, "I'll admit, it's not how I would've wanted this to go either, but he knew what he was doing when he lied to us all. Besides, if he chooses to reprimand us, I'll tell him it was only me."

After a minute of warring with himself, Beast Boy roared in frustration, "FINE! I'll help you," his shoulders slumped before he picked himself up, "We are a team after all, this is what we do for each other."

"Alright, let's go see what we can dig up," Damian turned, and headed out the door, Jaime and Garfield in tow.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter VI**

~ Titans Tower ~

"Hurry up, Damian," Beast Boy whispered again, though Damian knew that the mainframe terminal wouldn't be visited anytime soon. He had made sure to keep track of Nightwing's whereabouts in the tower. Currently he was in the weight room, as he had been for the last 15 minutes.

"Dude, why're you whispering?"

Beast Boy turned around, "Because Jaime, this is a stealth mission, we don't know if they left this room bugged." Shifting into a fly, he began to buzz around, looking for any hidden cameras or microphones.

Jaime just leaned against the wall, chuckling to himself, "Really, hermano? Why would Cyborg or Nightwing bug this room in **our** own base?" Looking over at Damian, he was reminded of when they had all first met, nearly one year ago. "If anything, Damian here would've been the one to bug the place, not to mention the entire tower… you didn't do that did you?"

Cracking the security was proving a little easier than Damian expected, so he just turned and smiled.

"Aww dude, seriously?!" Beast Boy returned to human form, standing close to one of the massive hard drives near the door.

"What? I just never got around to removing them, I did place them almost a year ago." Damian felt like he was getting somewhere with the hack, so he signaled them both over.

Jaime moved first, coming to stand behind Damian's right shoulder, "Still ese, you've got some real trust issues. Where're we at?"

Beast Boy moved to stand next to Damian's left hand, "Please tell me you found something already."

Damian broke through the first barrier, quickly finding a file from nearly a year ago, "I think I did…"

Jaime leaned in close, "Is that a name?"

Beast Boy turned into a capuchin monkey, and just shrugged.

Before he could stop himself, the file name slipped past his lips, "Raven…"

~ Raven's Cavern ~

Even with the early hour, Raven awoke with a start, as if someone had hit her with a fiery brand. "Augh… what… is… this?.." The burning sensation spread throughout her body, so alien to her, yet somehow familiar, as if she were being scorched with fire. Closing her eyes to the pain, she recited her mantra, trying to focus her mind, before she noticed a bright light piercing her closed eyes.

As she opened her eyes, she noticed the light coming from her own skin, as bright red letters began to appear on her skin. Fear began to grip her, though she could not place the reason, for the pain of it all was becoming difficult to repress.

Slowly, she felt the fire within her dissipate, and the light from the marks dissipate. Without even looking, she knew that these marks were all over her body. Within moment's she had become a living tapestry, words of a dead culture revealing to everyone who saw them, what kind of monster she was.

As her mind came back into focus, she was able to place her fear from before.

Those letters were Azaranian.

Holding her arms close to her chest, she whispered into the rising sun, "Please… no…"

~ Titans Tower ~

Damian, Jaime, and Garfield looked at what they had uncovered, not sure what to make of it all.

"What the hell are these, hermano?" The pictures were mostly of a young woman, dressed in a black leotard, with a dark blue cloak surrounding her slender frame. Some of them showed a red crystal placed on her forehead, most did not, but those were the least disturbing pictures.

A few of those photos revealed that the three of them knew her, or at least, that they should know her. The four of them in training, at the briefing room table, one was even at Jump City's best pizza joint.

"Like what you boys see?"

The three of them turned to face Nightwing, who was leaning against the doorway, glaring daggers at them.

"Nightwing, sir, what is this?" Beast Boy pointed at the pictures, clearly confused, and slightly hurt to discover one of his idols had kept any secrets from them.

"Yeah, Nightwing, what's the meaning of keeping these a secret from us?" Damian stood, matching Nightwing's expression. "Who's this 'Raven' girl, and why can't any of us remember her?"

Standing straight, Nightwing moved to stand next to Damian, looking up at the photos spread out over the terminal display. "Honestly, I don't know, but after our battle with Trigon, I had come up here to input the little data we had collected from our fight, and found that folder there, no login data, or user id. It only had a name and the pictures."

"But you kept them a secret! That's loco, why not tell us, we could've been out looking for this girl for months now!" Jaime was right, but he was missing something.

Nightwing didn't even turn from the display, "Even if I had let you look for her-"

"How could we be sure it wasn't a trap?" Damian interjected, "How could we completely forget someone like that? And even if we had, why leave behind so much evidence to the contrary? That is what you were going to say, right Nightwing?"

Nightwing turned and headed for the door, "Yes."

"But duuude, what if she needed our help-"

"Forget that ese, what if she still needs our help?"

Nightwing paused at the doorway, not turning to look at them, "If she does, you'll have to figure out why, because that's you're next mission."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter VII**

~ Raven's Cavern ~

Moving over to the pool, she sank down into the cooling waters, washing the sweat off from that mornings event. As she floated lazily about on the surface, Raven wondered what had happened, she thought she had been careful. She had been meditating most of each day, keeping the jewel containing Trigon in her forehead, and trying so hard to forget him. 'What changed?' That question revolved in her mind, keeping her from enjoying the cool water as it enveloped her slender frame.

As the water surrounded her, the warmth of the cave felt familiar, yet mysterious to her, like soft hands caressing her wherever it blew over her. The strange sensation brought him to mind again, the dreams of those strong, sure hands of his as they must still be. How she wished for those hands to hold her, to come save her, but knew they never would. She stepped out of the water, moving to stand in the rays of the rising sun.

It took a few moments for her to notice that there was a low tone coming from her left, even longer to place what was making that sound. As she looked over, her mind came awake fully, reminding her of what she had forgotten.

The communicator was toning the day for her, bringing to mind an event that she had come to loathe for years. In a whisper, she gave credence to the day, breathed new life into it, before she could stop herself.

"Happy birthday, Raven."

~ Titans Tower Briefing Room ~

For the second time that day, the team was fully assembled at the table, but in the short time since their last meeting, the tension in the room was palpable. Wonder Girl was looking slightly uncomfortable, probably waiting for someone to excuse her. Jinx, on the other hand, looked expectant, perhaps hoping a fight would break out which she could join in on.

Damian waited for Nightwing to begin, as it was his responsibility to inform the team of the truth. Nightwing was waiting patiently for the right words to come to mind. It's never easy to bring something so clearly suspicious to light, especially when it concerned his team.

"So Nightwing, you called this meeting, what's happened?" Starfire always knew how to ease into a tense situation. It was part of why Nightwing still loved her, not that he'd actually said that yet. He mentally shook his head, getting ready for what he was about to do.

Nightwing stood, pulling up the folder from the mainframe, as well as a second folder, that had been left unnamed. Opening the folder entitled 'Raven', the pictures populated the space in the middle of the table, orbiting around the other folder as projections. "Everything you're seeing here has been authenticated, either by myself or Batman… They're all 100% genuine and real. Batman and I can only guess that the girl's name is Raven, but there's no trace of her in the League database, or any database, for that matter."

"So how come we've never heard of her?" Beast Boy was trying to ask the questions in place of Damian, who obviously was still tense.

Cyborg stepped up, pulling some database entry logs, "Well, after looking into the possible age of these photos, it looks like there was some unidentifiable access to every League system, even to Batman's secure server, all within seconds of each other." He highlighted the blank sections in each of the logs, clearly showing a pattern in the entries. "It always starts here in the Tower, then the access is recorded on the League system, followed by Batman's server. On this day," a special highlighted block comes into view, "whoever was doing this, accessed all systems simultaneously, and subsequently any data related to this girl was deleted from everywhere else."

Jinx jumped in, "So how do we know it wasn't some kind of plant? Maybe her name's not Raven, and she was a mole?"

"Nightwing just said they were real, Jinx. Why create a whole persona just to leave this behind?" Once again, Wonder Girl had made an excellent point.

"Besides, hermana, just look at the last time this weirdness happened… look familiar to anyone?" Beetle pulled a recording from his own archive, of the specific date.

"Duuude…"

Jinx looked perplexed, "What?"

Damian spoke for the first time, "It happened right after we fought Trigon… but the part that still gets me is this was kept secret. Not to mention the fact that there is still something else you haven't shown us."

Starfire, who had been sitting quietly processing the issue of trust in her team, looked over to the folder that lay unopened. "What's in that folder, Nightwing?" Her tone spoke volumes.

"Look, before I show you all what I found, you need to know that this is why I was keeping this a secret. What you're about to see is gonna confuse you-"

"Just show us, Nightwing…" Starfire spoke in a tone that brooked no argument from him.

Sighing, he typed a few keys in front of him, opening the folder, revealing a fragmented video file. Gesturing to the file, the playback began.

~ Raven's Cavern ~

Having decided to meditate in the shade of a tree, some miles from her cavern, Raven was trying to keep her mind focused. Yet each time she found her center, she would catch herself thinking of him again, 'What's so different from yesterday?' She stretched out, touching the cool ground near the tree, trying not to glare at the marks on her skin, trying so hard not to think about her team, and failing to keep him from entering her thoughts.

The flood of memories was threatening to overwhelm her, and nothing made sense. Nothing should have changed, she'd been so careful, kept the darkness within her at bay, and even– "No, don't think about it, you fixed everything, just forget–"

Even as she spoke, her mind went blank, the memories fading before a jolt shot through her, pain blinding all thought, all emotion. Memories came flooding in, flooding her with more emotion than she could control, pressing against the walls of her consciousness, trying to break free. 'Just breathe, it'll pass, it's gotta pass, please just let it pa-' before she could stop herself, she spoke three powerful words, unleashing everything that she had bottled up inside her.

"Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos!.."

~ Titans Tower ~

"No way, ese… This can't be real…"

"Yeah, dude… That's just not right… That's not what happened…"

"Well, it looks real enough, all except for me and Wonder Girl not being there."

"But that's not possible, I clearly remember fighting with everyone against him."

No words could describe the level of shock on Damian's face. Everyone turned to see how he was handling everything. Damian replayed the video in his mind, seeing Trigon's minions swarming over the team, him fighting with this girl against them, before the video skipped… Showing a mutilated version of him, no right arm, half his chest gone, that girl holding his head in her lap, his eyes closing, her screaming… Another skip, and flashes of muted light, as if shadows were dancing across whatever was recording this.

"Did I die?"

Before anyone could react, Damian drew a sharp breath, clutching his sides before doubling over in pain. Even as he felt the excruciating pain in his body, his mind recognized that his legs were shaking. He was vaguely aware of his ragged breathing, yet he could not say why he was feeling all this. His legs gave out, even as his mind faded to black.


	8. Chapter 8

The Last Battle

Chapter VIII

~ Damian's Mindscape ~

The flood of memories and emotions washed over Damian, the culmination of a year's absence of reality. After holding them back for so long, Damian could no longer contain the torrent of pain, anger, fear, joy, love, and hate; so many emotions, some foreign, some familiar, all of them multiplied over and over, till even he couldn't separate them anymore.

The memories were much worse, a veritable kaleidoscope of images each one melding into the next with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Moments glimpsed in winter mixed with ones in summer, to spring, to fall minutes passing into hours and days to weeks. It felt like a lifetime of revelations were being unloaded into Damian's mind; it was almost too much for him to bear.

Damian could feel the labyrinthian walls of his mind shatter like glass, pieces of memory that had once seemed real were replaced with memories that felt like pure fantasy. Training sessions with the team, sparse visits to the fairgrounds, sitting in a theater, riding the Ferris wheel. Each memory punctuated by her presence, the rare smile, her pointed and direct comments, how easily she understood him, how much he related to her. It was like looking in a mirror, and he knew, just like everything else he knew about her, that no one would ever have the same hold on him that she did.

One memory struck a chord, the only solid memory he could recall…

 _After seeing her meditating outside, he made his way to confront her. As he came upon the clearing, he felt his energy shift, no doubt a side effect of her mind melding with him._

 _"I suppose I should thank you for healing me." He felt strange about his curt response, though he couldn't say why._

 _Her dark eyes opened, "… Uhh… You're welcome?" Strange that she would pose it as a question, but for some reason, it bothered him._

 _"It was strange having you in my head," he sat across from her, the meditative incense burning between them. "I felt you prying into my entire life… It was not… appreciated."_

 _He looked into her eyes, and was caught, unable to look away, "I'm an empath," she said, "and if it makes you feel any better, I didn't see it so much as felt it. And I've been trying to shake it off ever since."_

 _Throughout the rest of their conversation, he pondered her statement. 'What does she mean shake it off? How could I affect her, I didn't ask to be healed, or have my mind rifled through?' As she left, and a strange feeling gripped him upon her departure, it became clear, 'She's dangerous to me, but why?' Somehow, she had reached the deepest parts of his mind, and left something of her behind._

That was when she first got ahold of him, and he knew now that no matter what happened to his memories, he could never get away from her. As he tried to reorganize the chaotic mess his mind had become, he wondered briefly how the rest of the team was handling this.

~ Titan's Tower Infirmary ~

"DUUUUDE! WAKE UUP!" Garfield grabbed Damian by his shoulders and shook him for the fifth time in as many minutes.

"Garfield, bro, chill. I'm sure it's only temporary ese." Even Jaime couldn't honestly believe that anymore. After all, it had been hours since the rest of the team had woken up and moved Damian to the infirmary. "Besides, what if he forgets who you are, hermano?"

"How could he forget _me_?! I'm the funny guy!"

"More like funny looking," Jinx interjected, "and do you really have to shout, _Garfield_?" she added, with a sneer.

"Don't call me that!" He pointed at Jinx, "We're not friends, heck, we don't even know each other!"

"Hey now, don't forget, we've all seen you lick yourself."

Wonder Girl shivered dramatically, "And not even as a dog."

Jaime stepped between them, cutting off that disturbing train of thought, "Regardless, we forgot all about Raven, Gar… If we could forget her, what could he forget?"

"We didn't forget about Raven, Jaime." Nightwing walked into the infirmary, Starfire close behind him, "Our memories were altered, very well I might add, and only after the battle with Trigon. Everything we experienced after that has been real, though it still leaves much of the aftermath to piece together."

"Yeah, like Damian dying… Did that really happen?" Garfield looked stricken by the thought.

"It might have," said Jinx, looking strangely at Damian as he lay in the bed.

"Might have?" Wonder Girl looked a little lost by that statement.

Starfire moved over, resting her hand on Jinx's shoulder, "Please explain Jinx."

Jinx moved closer to Damian's cot, "I wasn't sure before, after all, a former assassin must still carry the stench of death, but something seemed off. Now that I'm really looking though, it's like he carries a corpse everywhere, with a dark shield to cover up the odor."

"I just thought he needed a shower, it's not like I ever see him out of uniform." Garfield emphasized his comment by holding his nose comically.

"Idiot, I mean he literally smells like rotten flesh, like a zombie." Jinx glared at Garfield.

"Look, he's obviously not dead, so the only thing we can do is wait for Damian to wake up!" Jaime was doing his best to maintain his composure, but the tension was visible in his expression.

"Jaime's right," Nightwing said, "we can't speculate what kind of memories Damian had altered, or even what he remembers."

"I am concerned as well," Starfire said, "and not just for Damian, but for Raven. We still don't know what happened to her, or where she is."

As the team chose to wait patiently for Damian to awaken, each of their minds buzzed with terrifying thoughts of what had become of their missing team mate.

~ Tibet ~

Dark clouds paraded ominously across the sky, shielding the young woman who lay prone in a crater, evidence of the power contained within her. The Azarathan marks on her skin shone with a dull red light, fading to black before disappearing into her skin. Even as her energy began to balance out, wisps of her power escaped with every breath, like warm breath on a cool morning.

Raven's mind had begun racking, thoughts of the boy she had left behind coming unabated. 'I can't fight it anymore… Damian…" Images both real and fictitious bombarded her. Training sessions, meeting at the fairgrounds, sharing her bed, holding his broken body, their kiss in the hall of mirrors, meditating together… Each memory filled with desperate longing for the one person who had seen the darkness within her, and truly accepted her, never flinching, never fearing her. And she had betrayed him in an unspeakable way, tainting his acceptance forever, 'Please forgive me Damian.'


	9. Chapter 9

The Last Battle

Chapter IX

~ Damian's Mindscape ~

Even after a seemingly endless time spent reorganizing his memories, there was still so much he didn't understand. Who was Raven; what was she to him; how had she gotten such a hold on him without him noticing. 'some of these memories can't be real…' Images of a kiss in the hall of mirrors, sitting across from her and meditating, Dance Dance Revolution… 'Strange…'

For some reason, the memory of the hall of mirrors pulled his attention, dragging him into a fragmented moment in time.

 _Looking into her eyes, Damian spoke, the words unintelligible in the broken memory. She responded, and before he knew what had happened, he was kissing her, her lips so soft and yielding, parting slightly to share his breath. She pressed against him, a mixture of soft curves and firm, toned muscles, each leading seamlessly into each other. Her arms circled around him, and he only noticed he had moved when his hands felt the soft skin of her hips, finding their natural place there._

Damian tried to banish the image, convinced it was only a false memory, left behind from her tampering. The image only pressed against his skull, demanding his full attention.

 _Raven pulled back, speaking softly, before she kissed him back. Her lips quietly demanded more, as they parted against his own, following suit. His tongue reached out, teasing her lips, before hers stretched out tentatively, teasing him by entwining their tongues._

'Stop it, this isn't real,' he commanded, the words falling silent in the shattered labyrinth of his mind. The memory continued unabated, somehow growing more potent.

 _Words couldn't describe the sweet taste of her tongue, as if her dark power were mixed with her demure personality, a like a kind poison, one that would kill you in your sleep. A potent poison, equal parts danger and kindness, held together by her unbreakable will and unassailable mind. It overwhelmed his senses so completely, he almost didn't notice his hands as they moved across her skin, reaching for –_

'ENOUGH!' Damian shouted, in a sound that cascaded, a legion of voices, each layered upon the other, as if there were more than just Damian in his mind. The image disappeared, a puff of smoke caught in a breeze. Reaching up to his lips, he could still feel her soft lips, still taste her on his tongue. As he pulled his hands away, what he saw confused him, 'This isn't right… what is this feeling? My hands are… shaking?'

'That's your weakness, Damian. It's called fear.' A familiar voice, out of place in his mind, sent a chill up his spine.

'Grandfather?'

~ Titan's Tower Infirmary ~

Jaime had ceased pacing 10 minutes ago, but Garfield had taken it up almost an hour ago. In the form of a cat, he sat, curled up on Wonder Girl's lap, both of them in a chair next to Damian's bed. Every so often, he would get up, hop onto Damian's chest, and press his paw into Damian's cheek and nose. Then he would turn, hop back onto Wonder Girl's lap, and curl up again. It was almost comical, though for some reason, the sight made Jinx snort with derision.

Nightwing and Starfire stood in the doorway, looking on their team with a mixture of pride regret. Nightwing sighed before turning and walking away from the infirmary. "Dick," Starfire turned and followed him, clearly concerned about him. "Damian's going to be fine, he'll pull through this."

"I'm sure he will, he's a tough kid," Nightwing stopped a short distance from the door. "I'm more worried about the rest of the team… and about you."

"That's sweet Dick, but you know you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself." She moved to stand next to him, reaching out and taking his hand. "I appreciate you worrying about me, but your team needs you to look out for them."

Nightwing adjusted her hand, his fingers entwining with hers, "Kori, they're your team. I haven't been a Titan in so long, sometimes I still look for Red Arrow and Kid Flash when I monitor the camera feeds. You know I'm gonna worry about you, no matter what."

Starfire looked downcast, "Ever since you came back, the team has looked to you for guidance, and while you certainly have more experience than I do, I don't know what I'm missing."

"You're missing the point, their trust in you is so complete, they don't feel that they need to ask you for direction. They know how you operate, how you like to handle things, so they prefer to check with each other to determine who should do what." He reached up, laying his hand on her cheek, "They're testing the waters with me, and they have to ask because they don't know me well enough yet… Except for Damian, he just prefers to find any way to aggravate me, even debating our different methods at every turn." The look on his face was one of pure annoyance.

Starfire laughed at his final statement, a light sound that could make anyone who heard it smile. "I hope you're right, Dick."

With a cocky smirk on his face, he responded, "I know I am babe." He leaned in to kiss her.

"DUUUDES! HE'S AWAKE!" Suddenly, Garfield was there, killing the mood instantly.

With the moment broken, Nightwing and Starfire both headed back to the infirmary, but not before sharing a look that promised one thing, 'Later.'


	10. Chapter 10

The Last Battle

Chapter X

~ Tibet ~

Waking up in the crater, Raven forced herself to sit up, the pain of having slept on the cracked stone paling in comparison to the throbbing headache she was experiencing. 'Well, at least I'm not dead yet,' that morbid thought was the first to cross her mind. As she moved to stand, a sharp pain struck her, causing her to reach towards her abdomen.

Looking down, she moved her hand away from the source of her pain. A small stain, barely visible against her black leotard, reminded her of the price of her betrayal. Just over an inch long, the scar had been reopened by the sheer force of her outburst. A matching scar on her back throbbed as well, though that seemed to have remained mostly intact.

"That's gonna hurt later," she winced, moving to stand up, pushing the pain to the back of her mind. 'At least it's not still bleeding,' she thought, hoping it hadn't become infected.

She reached for her power, lifting off, and flying towards her home. The journey seemed to pass by more quickly than usual, though she couldn't say why. She felt glad to be back in her cave, reaching out to move the stone set in the wall.

Without realizing it, she had placed her cloak on the root, removing her clothing just as quickly, hoping to soak in the warm water. As her uniform fell to the floor, she noted that the cave didn't feel cold to her, though she couldn't say why.

Heat began to pool low and deep, and she was assailed by images of Damian. Him taking her roughly, his hands claiming every inch of her skin, his mouth holding her hostage. She felt his lips trail down her body, reaching for her –

Slamming those images from her mind, she felt the overwhelming sensation tinged with a hint of cruelty. These could only be the twisted fantasies of one person. 'Well, not a person, really,' she grimaced at the thought of him tainting her fantasies. "You can't have the Trigon, those are my dreams, not yours."

His voice rang out in her mind, 'Foolish girl. Do you really believe your insipid desires are worth my attention? I find your connections to that worthless chattel beneath my contempt. You'll know I've tampered with your mind when you're holding his lifeless corpse again!"

His words rang with a level of truth, "I know your evil Trigon, I can smell it. Those dreams could only be your doing." Raven did her best to keep her heart and voice steady.

'Impudent child, if I wanted to, I would show you true visions of the destruction of Earth! I'd even show you the multitude of ways I would enjoy killing that boy, leaving just enough life for you to watch him die! There's only one reason you would see those visions, my child…'

It only took a moment for the realization to dawn on her, his words sparking fire within her. "You're wrong, I don't want this… It's all because you're in my head!" Her blood began to boil, threatening to set fire to her skin.

His laughter was condescending, she could practically feel him sneering down his nose at her. 'I may be in your head Raven, but you don't even know what's in your own mind! You're becoming more like me with each passing day.'

Her blood froze in her veins, an icy chill spreading throughout her body. For the first time since being taken to Trigon's dark realm, she felt real fear at the very prospect of his statement. If he was right, which she was having a hard time believing… 'No, I know my mind. He just wants to see me squirm.' Moving through the cave to the pool, she stood under the running water, grateful for the warmth of the water. "You don't know the truth Trigon, you only know about fear, and lies. I will cleanse your sick stain from my dreams."

'My blood flows through your veins, you will never really cleanse your mind. You have your own darkness within you.' His laughter grated on her nerves.

"Go to hell," she said, slamming her mental wall into place, silencing him.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter XI**

~ Titans Tower ~

"So, you're sure you don't remember anything else?" Nightwing asked that question for the second time in the last hour. Ever since Damian had woken up, the team had probed him with questions about what had happened.

"For the last time, Nightwing, I can't remember anything that hasn't already been confirmed by another member of the team."

Starfire interjected, "Maybe we should let Damian rest a little longer. I'm sure we could all use a little rest, right Nightwing?" She laid her hand on Nightwing's shoulder, gently reminding him that he had other responsibilities.

"I don't need rest, Starfire, I need to train," moving to stand, Damian found a hand on each shoulder, keeping him from moving any further.

To his left, Damian saw Blue Beetle standing there, a stern brotherly look in his eyes, "Not today bro, you need to rest ese. There'll be plenty of time for that."

"Yeah dude, we'll be getting ready for our mission soon, you just get some sleep." Beast Boy stood to Damian's right, in the form of a gorilla, clearly ready to exert force if need be to keep him in the cot. "Besides, you're gonna need to think really hard about how we're gonna find Raven. Cause we can't remember half of what you do about her."

Looking between them, he saw that nothing would change their minds. Besides, he was sure Nightwing still knew more than he was saying, and he intended to make progress on his own mission. "I'll let you know if anything comes to mind. I think Starfire's right, maybe I do need rest."

The faces of the team revealed their shock at his response, as he never gave in to Starfire's requests until they had bandied back and forth for a while. To see him concede to Starfire without even an argument, quite frankly put them all on edge. As he lay back down, Jinx looked at him strangely, clearly not sure what to make of his strange aura, but sure she would figure it out.

"I think we're gonna go ahead and leave Damian to rest, right Jinx?" Wonder Girl jumped in, grabbing Jinx by the arm, leading her out the room, clearly to the other girl's bewilderment.

"What're you doing?" Jinx yanked her arm back after the two girls had rounded a corner, placing one hand on her hip, "What was that all about?"

Wonder Girl looked stricken, "What you said back there, about Damian, is that true? Does he really smell like that?"

"What's it to ya?" Jinx's curt reply hurt both girls, though neither would admit it. The stark realization that their memories were both real, yet based on a falsehood made each of them wonder how they should feel about the other.

Wonder Girl paced back and forth, her feet never touching the ground. "What did you mean by that?" She landed in front of Jinx, looking her in the eye.

"I'll tell you what I mean," Jinx glared into Wonder Girl's eyes, still wondering how she should handle the strange feeling in her chest. "That boy smells like death, like a cemetery, rotting flesh. I just thought it was the general stench of an assassin, but this is different. He smells worse now, like a thick curtain's been lifted, and he's been dead for a couple years. And beneath everything, there's a heavy veil of some powerful magic. Magic like I've never seen before."

"What're we gonna do about it? Do you have any friends who can help us research this?"

Jinx stepped back, a look of confusion on her pale face, "Why would I want to help anyone here? The only reason I'm still here is because I haven't found a good moment to make my escape. As far as I'm concerned, this place, and everyone in it are still my enemies-"

"But that's not true, you're my friend Jinx. We've fought together countless times, we're team mates. Does none of our history mean anything to you?" Wonder Girl looked stricken, her face revealing how much she believed what she was saying.

Jinx moved over to the wall, leaning against it with her arms crossed, "I don't know what to believe anymore, none of it seems real now, but I know it was real. I have scars to prove some of those missions actually happened. But I don't know… I just don't know what to make of all this." She looked into Wonder Girl's eyes, a piercing blue, like the sky on a clear day. With her jet-black hair, and curvaceous figure, Jinx couldn't help but envy her. "Besides, why would you trust me? Our friendship is based on a lie, and besides, the way things were supposed to go, we fought several times."

Wonder Girl took Jinx's hand, earning a look of disgust at the gesture, "But we didn't, we've been in tight situations together, had each other's backs… I know that some of our earlier memories were fake, but that doesn't mean the rest were too." She looked into Jinx's light brown eyes, holding her there as she continued, "You've saved my life several times, and I've saved yours, that's a fact, and I'm not gonna give up my partner now."

The look in her eyes turned out to be too much, too purely genuine as Jinx looked away, a tight feeling gripping her chest. 'This feels too weird, she can't really be serious,' as she looked into Wonder Girl's eyes, she saw that it was, in her eyes Jinx could see that she was completely serious, though why that was, she still didn't know. For now, it didn't matter, she had to figure out what was going on, "Fine! I might know someone, but I'm only doing this because you look so sad just begging me to stick around."

You'd have thought that Wonder Girl had been declared a sister to Wonder Woman, she was smiling so much. "Perfect, so where do we begin?"

~ Tibet ~

Raven lay in her bed, her dreams keeping her from true sleep. Tossing and turning, every so often waking with a start, as though she could feel him doing all sorts of things to her. The stark reminder that he didn't even know her name did nothing to prevent these visions from making themselves known.

'Just sleep Raven, you'll feel better in the morning,' even she wasn't sure she believed herself anymore. Despite the potency of her dreams, she finally fell into an exhausted but deep slumber, even as the sun climbed ever higher in the sky.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Last Battle**

 **Chapter XII**

~ Titans Tower ~

Night had fallen some time ago, and Damian could feel sleep clawing at him, trying to draw him into its sweet embrace. He fought it for as long as he could, before finally succumbing, knowing that his mission would have to wait until he was rested. As he began to orient himself in his dream, he saw that the space he was in was not entirely of his own making. It was somehow both rigid and structured, yet also fluid, like being in an aquarium, the water rising and falling behind the glass in waves.

"Definitely not something I would have come up with, myself," he said to no one in particular. Still though, something about the vague familiarity of his surroundings reminded him of her. Instantly, thoughts of her came to mind, the training sessions where they fought, growing closer as they sparred. The missions they had been on together, fighting side-by-side.

Shaking his head, he moved through the strange structure in his mind, making his way to the center, as he did every night. The further in he went, he saw that the waters became calmer, till he couldn't see them rise or fall. Several species of fish had begun to populate the calmer waters as he made his long arduous journey to the center of the labyrinth.

~ Raven's Mind ~

'This is starting to feel like Trigon's realm again,' Raven mentally and physically shuddered at the thought of those dark months spent fighting against his cruel ministrations. The walls of her mind were made of pulsing red flesh, yet they seemed to lack some of the cruel aura they had exuded in his 'home'. She simply chalked that up to it being her mind, and that these walls were only here because Trigon had forced them to be here.

The path to the center seemed to stand out, as she knew her mind better than she knew her cavern, or the Tower that had once been her home. "I could do this blindfolded," she said, deciding to really test her mind, for if this were really her choosing, she would make it to the center without her sight. Shutting her eyes, she made her way through the twisted halls, never once making a misstep. Her fear at what her mind must be becoming was suddenly halted as she felt rather than saw the halls gradually shift.

'It doesn't mean anything, just keep your eyes closed Raven,' she mentally chided herself though when, despite her constant chastising, she slowly opened one eye. The sight that greeted her didn't make sense. Where before the walls were throbbing masses of flesh, now they were a sheer white, with wide black lines at the top and bottom of the walls. The floors were now solid stone, with similar black lines at the edges meeting the marks on the walls at the corner.

Looking behind her, she couldn't even see a remnant of the horrors of her father's twisted realm, yet this did not fill her with relief. As she slowly made her way further down the corridors to the center of the labyrinth, she remembered where she had seen this. This was just like the Tower.

~ Damian's Mind ~

Stopping at a corner, Damian looked into the clear waters seeing a few sharks circle each other. The sight would not have seemed so strange to him, until he saw their eyes, each wore human eyes, pure orbs of green, much like his own eyes. No, they were his eyes, he was sure of it, though how he knew, he couldn't say. Moving further down the twisted halls, he saw that each of the great predators bore his eyes, searching out their next meal.

'This is foolish, I just need to make my way in, there'll be answers there, there must be.' Picking up the pace, he moved faster, devouring miles in the deep maze as he drew ever closer to the end. For some reason, this only seemed to heighten his feeling of unease, before finally reaching the… end?

The wall before him seemed to mock him, for he knew that the end of the maze as well as his answers were on the other side. Sitting down to meditate for a moment, he took a breath, calming himself as Raven had taught him, finding his center… 'No, this is how I learned from my grandfather, not anyone else!'

~ Raven's Mind ~

Having reached the end of the maze far sooner than she had anticipated, Raven couldn't make sense of the wall blocking her path, a smooth white stone, not unlike the buildings on Azarath had been built of. No, she was sure this was the same stone, it even radiated a clear energy, though she was sure it wasn't something she remembered about her home.

She tried to shift the wall, concentrating on the image of it sinking beneath the floor… nothing happened. "That's strange," she focused on the wall again, willing her mind to obey her desires. Still nothing, a barrier standing between Raven and the center of her mind, an impregnable gate. 'Guess there's nothing for it right now,' she thought, turning her back to the wall, and sitting in a meditative form, her legs crossed, arms resting across her knees.

"Just take a deep breath Raven, focus… center yourself… maybe you took a wrong turn somewhere." Even as she spoke these words, she knew she had not, there was always only one path, a single track that lead to the deepest parts of her mind. Nothing should have changed… yet something had, she'd never had no control of her own mindscape. If she willed it, it could've just been a straight line, but she had come to enjoy the feel of the maze.

Somehow, everything had changed, she knew it, felt it in her very soul, yet she couldn't figure out how or why…

~ Damian's Mind? ~

'There's got to be something here,' Damian was looking over the wall for the fifth time, trying to keep his sanity intact. The short time he had spent meditating only confused him, as images of this 'Raven' continued to intrude, growing ever stronger the longer he sat before the wall. Even as he was combing over the wall for clues, he felt a slight shifting beneath his feet before his barrier began to sink.

"Finally, now I can get out of here." He moved past the wall, ignoring everything but the center of the maze, where he found his communicator, just like it should be. Only, this one looked oddly faded, scratched in several places… this couldn't be his communicator. It didn't matter, he needed to get out, and find Raven.

"This has been… the weirdest… dream." He finally looked around the room, seeing for the first time why this felt so strange to him. Glowing red marks lined the walls, and those walls were just as strange, some were reminiscent of the Tower, others were the fish tanks he'd seen earlier. One section was made of some disturbing substance, pulsating and red, like blood flowed behind them. Another was made of a solid looking stone, clean, pure, almost the same color as ivory.

As he looked to the wall of stone, part of it shifted, falling below the floor, revealing a figure, meditating with their back turned to him. The figure moved to stand…

~ Raven's Mind? ~

Raven heard more than felt the wall behind her sink, moving to stand, she began to feel very uneasy, almost as if eyes were on her. Yet she knew that this was impossible, no one could be here. She turned to the center, her eyes seeing but not registering another person in the room.

As she made her way to the communicator she knew would be waiting for her, she took no notice of the boy standing opposite her. She began to reach for the communicator before she heard him whisper, "Raven?" She looked up, seeing those green eyes, unmistakably his, and felt only one thing… pure terror.

"Damian?.."


End file.
